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Big Creator Bets & Exits
Creators are longer simply a "marketing lever"
Gustavo Casas
June 09, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes
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After a week off at New York Tech week, we’re so back…
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🔮Consumer: Community as part of the product
Community Drives Revenue: NYC Tech Week
As Value add: Wiz exploded from a stealth startup in 2020 to $350 M+ ARR in just three years. Alphabets’s $32 B acquisition makes it the largest deal to date. A key differentiator was their Wizdom Community, which not only hosted webinars but local in person events, mentorship & so much more.
Insight from panel: “Community is a Behavior” - Avital Knoller (Wiz)
As deal sourcing: After raising $40M at a $1.25B evaluation it is clear Clay’s dedication to community is paying off. “Beyond physical meetups, our ~20k person Slack community exchanges thousands of messages on learnings weekly.” They believe in ecosystem led growth, with over 60+ meetups across 30 cities, they’ve even announced a community equity offering to their users.
Insight from panel: “Community is how you increase deal velocity” - Peter Kang
Synthesis: “Community is an edge now, standard practice later”
🤳🏼Creators: Big Bets & Big Exits
Big Exit: Hailey Bieber officially joined the ultra-exclusive club of creators with a $1B exit when E.L.F. Beauty acquired her skincare brand, Rhode. She’s now alongside standout peers like Rihanna, whose Fenty Beauty made her a billionaire. Kylie Jenner sold a majority stake to Coty at a $1.2B evaluation.
Insight to watch: Chamberlain Coffee projected to make $33M in 2025
Fund to watch: Aser Ventures, one of the winners from Rhode exit.
Big Bet: Another Creator turned VC story, The Sidemen a group of YouTubers based in Europe closed a $25M fund. With in house distribution of 150M followers they’ll back consumer startups from $130-600k checks.
Insight to watch: Slow Ventures Holdco equity model.
Fund to watch: Creator Ventures Closes $45M Fund II for consumer.
Synthesis: “In house distribution + capital = ultimate value add”
🗓️ Community: IRL [6.9-6.15]
Insight to watch: All in over 1k+ events & 60k+ RSVP’s during NY Tech week.
Chicago
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🖼️Art Piece of the Week:
 | Japanese Hill & Garden (1915)The Lore: Opened in 1915, the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden is one of the oldest surviving Japanese-inspired gardens in the U.S. and the first built in a public botanic garden. Designed by Japanese-American landscape architect Takeo Shiota, the garden uses carefully placed stones, water features, and native plants to create a space that feels both natural and intentionally meditative. |
“This garden is the pride of my life… I believe it will live long and my soul will be always living in the garden.”
Let’s meet IRL?
Gratefully,
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